Gion Matsuri, sponsored by Yasaka Shrine, is the largest of the three great annual festivals of Kyoto and one of the most famous festivals in Japan. It runs through the whole of July, with the climactic yamaboko junkō float processions on the 17th and 24th. Thirty-three enormous wheeled wooden floats — some two storeys high, some weighing twelve tonnes — are assembled in the streets in the days before, draped in centuries-old imported textiles, and hauled through the central streets by teams of local men in traditional dress.
On the three nights before each junkō the floats are stationed in their respective neighbourhoods, illuminated, and accompanied by a slow ringing music of bells and flutes (Gion bayashi); the surrounding streets close to traffic, fill with stalls, and become one continuous block party. If you are in Kyoto in July, even one evening of yoiyama — the float-viewing nights — is unforgettable. Book accommodation months ahead.